Border Patrols
by Hollyspots
Summary: A young apprentice, Adderpaw of ShiverClan, struggles not to follow in his father's footsteps. He runs into a she-cat from another clan and befriends her, but how will his father judge him? Written a long, long time ago, please don't mind the low quality.
1. Chapter 1

(Would you believe how old this is?

No, you wouldn't.

Please take into consideration that I wrote this years upon years ago, around the time I made this account, and critique it as such. It looks like this will be the first 'chapter', as the story is set up into little pieces.)

"Get up, you lazy furball!"

The apprentice batted at his denmate's head playfully, laughing as his tail wavered from side to side. His amber eyes glittered as sunlight shone through the Apprentice Den, his paw now reaching out to prod the tabby's side.

"Ungh.." the dark brown tom grunted, opening one eye to peer into the depths of the den. The sight was blurry at first, but it soon cleared before he let out a drowsy yawn. His whiskers twitched, another bright green iris shining as the light hit it.

"Oh.. Mousepaw."

"Yeah, _Mousepaw!_ Who else?" the black-and-white male laughed again, his paws kneading against the thick bed of moss. His expression quickly changed, however, his voice lowered in slight urgency. "Nettlewing and Whisperfoot want us to come with them on a border patrol."

"Huh.. Nettlewing's my mentor.."

"No duh! Gee, Adderpaw, don't you _ever_ wake up?"

"Sometimes," the other apprentice, 'Adderpaw' grinned, purring in amusement. But to Mousepaw's surprise, he rose to his paws, swiping his tongue over his maw. "Let's eat!"

Mousepaw cuffed him behind the ear.

"Border patrol.. _Border_ patrol, mousebrain!"


	2. Chapter 2

"You were late," the oldest of the four cats murmured, padding close to his apprentice.

Adderpaw shrugged.

"You know that you were supposed to be up _before_ Sunhigh, right?"

"Yep," the younger piped up, nodding absently as his eyes trailed after a falling leaf. His muscles bunched up, tail flicking as he was about to pounce on his unsuspecting prey-

"Then you should've been _awake_ when Mousepaw found you," he said a bit clearer as he shoved a paw in front of Adderpaw, preventing him from chasing after the leaf. "Keep in mind that-"

"Intruders! R-RiverClan!"

"Huh?" Mousepaw squeaked, bouncing forward from a clump of bracken. His eyes were wide with surprise, harks flicking eagerly.

"I know what I smelled! It's RiverClan!" the dusky black she-cat blurted out, stifling a muffled growl. "It's.. it's an invasion!"

"It can't be an invasion," Nettlewing objected calmly, "the scent isn't all that strong. There's only a few-"

"I said, I _know_ what I smelled!"

Adderpaw winced as the two argued, shooting a sideways glance at his companion. He nudged his head to the clump of bracken the bicolored apprentice had recently come from, eyes glowing with fear. Mousepaw nodded quickly, silently moving his way out of sight from the two bickering mentors.

He followed.


	3. Chapter 3

Adderpaw's breaths came in short gasps as he darted out of the bracken, grunting as he stared into his friend's eyes. The normally clean, black-and-white spotted fur of his was tainted and tampered, covers in thin scratches of red. The young tom blinked as he figured he couldn't look much different, and he shook his head dismissively. RiverClan couldn't be too far away- and with this kind of luck, they were likely to run into an entire clan.

But in that very moment, bright green eyes widened, feeling his heart skip a beat as a rustle in the leaves caught his glance. A flash of light tabby fur was all that came into view; but that was it.

"D-did you see that?" he whispered, shuddering as he glanced wistfully at Mousepaw. But clearly it hadn't caught his attention; his head was still whirling around aimlessly. A mix of their fear-scents flared into Adderpaw's nostrils, causing him to flinch.

But that wasn't the only thing that surprised him.

The flick of a tail hit his shoulder.  
He turned.  
Mousepaw was still.  
He shivered.

_"Hello?"_

He suddenly whipped around out of instinct, fur standing on end, unsheathed claws flexing and ready to fight.  
But no-one was there.

"M-M-Mousepaw.." he whimpered. "Let's get out of here!"


	4. Chapter 4

A breeze flew overhead as the two apprentices padded back into the WindClan camp, causing Adderpaw to shiver. He cast a sideways glance at Mousepaw, but quickly looked away when he found that the two-toned tom was listening intently to his mentor. He didn't even bother to listen to the urgent tone of the two older cats, instead silently sneaking back to the Apprentice's den. He breathed a sigh of relief; there were times that he enjoyed being away from his mentors, and even Mousepaw.

But the hushed silence was cut at the stem by a sharp yowling from outside the den's warmth, breaking through all the musing voices that had started to flourish around the camp.

_"Adderpaw!"_

The young male jumped in surprise, fur raising on end as he hit the walls of the den. His breath came in short gasps as he looked up at the looming shape of black, crawling low past the floor of the den and peering outside. It was.. familiar, in some way, he reflected.

No.. more than that; the gleam in those pale amber eyes and splash of white on his maw was unmistakeable.

"... Dad."

"_Mousebrain!_ You come back from a RiverClan _invasion_-"

"It wasn't an invasion.." Adderpaw muttered under his breath.

"-And don't tell me a _thin_g! All you ever do is march back right into your cozy little den and act like _nothing ever happened_! Do you not even care about the sa-"

"Geez.  
I'm sorry, can I go now?"


	5. Chapter 5

"You never change." the large black tom stifled a sigh, inspecting shimmering claws as they flexed. Adderpaw shrunk back into the depths of the Apprentice Den, cowering at the sight. His tail wrapped feebly around his paws as he brushed against the burrow's walls, trying to find some way of comfort.  
"Or.. that is, you're _yet_ to change.." he mused, his eyes glittering dangerously before he stalked out of the den. Glancing over his shoulder to glare at Adderpaw's quivering figure, he added, "Because I can arrange that."

The apprentice could feel his very _breath_ shake with all the force of a fissure, barely able to pick up any sort of oxygen from the humid air around it. He found himself shivering, and not only because of the chilled air. Oh, if only _StarClan_ could see this now..  
But.. then again, would they ever be able to put a stop to it?

Head ducked low, Adderpaw slithered out of the small burrow, relief flooding over him as he realized his father had long gone.  
But something _else_ prodding at his flank caused him to disregard the whole ordeal, and he jumped back in surprise with hackles raised.

"Yep, you never change," a gentle voice pointed out sullenly, followed by none other than a raised eyebrow from a familiar golden she-cat.

_Oh.. Great.. Of course, Goldenpaw. You always show up right when-_  
The male's thoughts broke off suddenly as he glanced over the apprentice - not much younger than he, actually -, blinking at her silky fur.  
He shuffled through possible replies, biting his lip as nothing seemed to appear relevant- no, he certainly couldn't ask if she'd overheard the conversation.. Well, that'd just be... stupid of him.  
And.. well.. Hrr.

"Well, I know _you_ do!" Adderpaw grinned, a purr rumbling from his chest as he padded closer to Goldenpaw.

"Because I remember when you were _ugly_!"

...  
A cuff behind his ear and a blow of a paw to his side.  
Great StarClan. Did.. _everyone_ have to do that to him these days?


	6. Chapter 6

Adderpaw's jaws spread out to a yawn as his paws curved over the slope that brought out the rest of the camp, the musky fog casting a blanket over the clearing. The lingering scent of the Dawn patrol hit the roof of his mouth, and he glanced up to the sky- it was still knitted with clouds, but he could just barely make out the sun settling into the mist. His father had been so silent in the last few days.. What could he possibly be planning? Had he just been teasing him? No.. He never teased; he was _always_ serious.

"Adderpaw?" A voice sifted through the mist, followed by the light gray, black-flecked figure that was Weaselpaw. The brown tom jumped at the sight, not at all expecting anyone to come leaping out of the haze. "Nettlewing told me to come find you.. I think we're going hunting?"

"But didn't the Dawn patrol just leave?" Adderpaw pointed out, raw suspicion in his voice. "They should at least be able to catch somethin'."

Weaselpaw's claws kneaded the frosty ground nervously, his head ducked and expression unreadable. "I.. I.. It's just-"

"I'm coming," he murmured to his denmate, striped tail flicking as he brushed past.

"A-aah.. Ah.. But you don't kn-"

"Oh, yeah, who's coming with us again?"

"Well, uh.. You, me, Nettlewing.. Mousepaw.." he trailed off suddenly, causing Adderpaw to raise an eyebrow. "Oh! Oh, and Goldenpaw, Eagleclaw, Honeywhisker-"

"... Honeywhisker's.. a medicine cat.."

Weaselpaw's muzzle flushed red with embarrassment, his eyes wide as any full moon. "I- I mean Hawkpaw!"

"... You mean Hawk-_kit_?"

"N-no.. I.. Uh.." He stammered, tail flicking as he continued to paw at the ground. Adderpaw let out a heavy sigh, trying to sort everything out. Surely the young tom was just trying to remember all the names?  
Wait.. _StarClan_, that was a lot of names!

"That's a lot of cats for a hunting patrol," he muttered coldly, "I wouldn't be surprised if we caught all the prey in the world."

Weaselpaw looked up immediately, the expression on his face brighter than Adderpaw would have ever imagined.  
"Yeah! So are you coming?"

The sun was high in the sky by the time they reached a suitable place to actually hunt, its warm breath casting away the misty fog. There were too many of the clan here, it seemed- mostly apprentices, a Warrior here and there...  
A hunting patrol? More like a gathering.

Padding through the bracken, Mousepaw not too far behind him, he opened his maw in search for prey. Scents of rabbit filled his scent glands, along with the faint smell of mice not too far off.  
And- Wait.. _RiverClan_?

"Keep your head down!" Redtooth, a senior warrior, hissed in his ear, whiskers twitching as he cuffed Adderpaw behind the ear. Quickly, the young apprentice ducked down into the clumps of bracken- WindClan seemed so far away now, the scent slowly fading.

_Where are we?_ he whimpered inwardly, legs trembling as a chilly wind swept past. _This doesn't smell like home.. I miss home. How far did we go? Why aren't we hunting?  
And what's that murky sce-_

"WindClan..  
_Attack!_"


	7. Chapter 7

Blood.  
There was blood everywhere.

It was the dripping scarlet on the trees, the caking in warriors' claws, the soaking in the fur of the most innocent of kits, and the flushing of the the river.  
That was... _blood_.

It was all as if the world fluttered silently around him, spinning, yet nothing really..._moved_.  
This was RiverClan. He could scent it, clouded through the thick, liquid scent of blood. He could see it, despite the the blood that splashed into his eyes. And he could hear the calls of distant wailing beneath all of the screeches of fighting cats.

And he'd barely stopped the falling of his eyes from one sight to another, barely even stopped to take a _breath_ when he heard the smallest, softest mewl from behind him.  
He could've sworn it was an angel of StarClan.

"Wh-what are you doing, sir?"

Liquid blue eyes stared up at him, the small shape of a brown tabby huddled against the outline of a bush hovering overhead. Adderpaw couldn't even blink, but only stare back- if time ever would care to stop, it had now.

"Sir! Sir, look behind..!" the she cat barely had time to speak when the high-pitched caterwaul of a WindClan warrior broke the silence that stuffed his ears like the softest cotton, sharp claws raking against his face and grinding against bone. Heart thudding, he fell back into the thorn bush, pain akin to the harsh blow stinging into his fur. He hadn't even a chance to yowl out in pain when he felt teeth digging into one forepaw and dragging him further into the thorns- surely not that of the warrior?

"Sir, you _must_ stay back here!" A frail voice cried out- glancing up, Adderpaw found that it was the small she-cat that had confronted him. She.. was she trying to save him-?

"... Th-thanks," he breathed feverishly, wincing as streams of blood leaked into his eye- StarClan, who had _done_ this to him?

"Please don't thank me, Sir, but do call me Larkpaw," the tabby nodded swiftly, pressing her head against his shoulder comfortingly.

The young tom surveyed her briefly, making sure that she at least wasn't harmed- no, not a scratch here nor there in her sleek fur. He smiled weakly; at least she would be fine.

"Larkpaw?"

"Yes?"

"I've seen you before..." Adderpaw coughed, heaving himself to his paws and sitting upright. "I- I mean, _you've_ seen me. Haven't you?"

"... W-well, yes, Sir. You and your friend - Mousepaw, is it? - have come to the border once or twice, I'd think."

"So you were... _spying_ on me?" he blinked skeptically, barely holding in a laugh.  
Larkpaw's face flushed red, ears flattening against her head and eyes widening. Her paws kneaded the tangled grass beneath her, but instead of looking down in embarrassment, she held her stare unbroken.

"N-no, Adderpaw! I wasn't-!"

_But.. you know my name.._ He sighed inwardly, shrugging off the thought and glancing out toward the murky shade of the bush and the deep shards of milky amber that lay scattered where the clusters of leaves broke apart. He'd long forgotten about the battle by now, long forgotten the screeches of terror and wails of agony- all of the blood, the.. the...

No.. what-? Amber? Orange? Was it so late already?  
It couldn't be.

And there it was, before he could even _think_ of what was to come. His eyes glazed to a glassy amber, sealed in horror as he flew back into tight-knit tangles of bracken with blood flying from a cut across the snout. He felt breath run cold through his throat as he twisted in the air, landing head-first, forcefully, into the thorns. The tom whipped around suddenly, _frantically_, knowing that he had to make sure Larkpaw was alright-!

_No!_

That was.. _her_ blood, splattered against ferns and holly, pouring out on the forest floor. That was her hopeless wail that screeched in his ears. And _those_ were the raking talons of his father, slicing from stomach to neck and nearly cutting her in two. _Those_ were the very claws that had induced the bone-scraping cut along his face, the cut that had nearly caused him to faint.

He knew then that she'd put herself between his father and he, hoping.. _knowing_that she could save him...

And he could do nothing, _nothing_, as she was _murdered_ beneath his own father's claws.


End file.
